Toothbrush holder



July 10, 1951 P. J. FILLMAN TOOTHBRUSH HOLDER Filed June 9, 1949 m IIIIIII -7/ W lllllll E mm m BY Mam Patented July 10, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TOOTHBRUSH HOLDER Paul J. Fillman, Louisville, Ky.

Application June 9, 1949, Serial No. 98,069

This invention relates to a sanitary holder for toothbrushes, having a cover and being adapted to mount on the wall of a bathroom.

The object of this invention is to provide a holder for toothbrushes, which will keep them in a sanitary condition by covering the bristles, protecting'them from dirt, dust, water splashin'gs, and other contaminations which might occur.

A further object of this invention is to provide such a holder which will keep the brushes readily accessible foruse at all times so that the brushes may be removed from the holder by the use of only one hand and without touching the bristles.

A still further objective is to provide a holder, with the above features, which is neat and attractive, occupying a minimum of space and at the same time serving as a constant reminder by keeping the brushes in plain view while making only a portion of the brushes accessible at one time.

In accordance with the present invention, the

toothbrush holder comprises a case, the back of which is adapted to be fastened to a wall with nails, screws, or similar fasteners. This case is provided with a pivoted transparent cover which may be rotated to obtain access to the brushes.

The invention will be described in greater detail in connection with the accompanying drawings, illustrating a preferred embodiment of the invention and wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the complete holder with the cover in the open position on one side of the holder.

Figure 2 is a front view with brush in place and cover closed,

Figure 3 is a sectional view of a detail of one form of pivot.

Referring to the drawings, the holder comprises a case portion I, which is made of plastic or other suitable material and may be either transparent or opaque, and if desired, may be colored to match other fittings in the bathroom. The casing has a back 2, which is flat so as to fit closely against a wall and which contains holes 3, by means of which it may be secured to the wall with nails, screws, or other fastening means. The case is likewise provided with a bottom 4 and a semicircular wall 5.

The bottom 4 is provided with notches 6 of a size which will fit snugly the handle of a toothbrush at a point just below the bristles, thus retaining the brush in place but permitting its easy withdrawal from the slot. The illustrated embodiment of my invention shows four of these 4 Claims. (Cl. 20615.1l

slots, but the holder might containfewer or more slots without departing from the spirit of the invention. It should be noted, however, that when more than about six slots are provided,

the height of the holder becomes greater due to the semicircular shape and thus occupies an undue amount of space, and it is, therefore, preferred that two or more holders be used when it is necessary to accommodate more than six brushes.

The center portion 1 of the bottom 4 is thickened to provide a substantial bearing or boss for,

the pivot of the cover, whichis' formed by a screw 8 being securely fastened in the boss I and about which the cover is free to turn.

The cover 9 of the holder is made preferably of a transparent plastic and is semicircular in shape, although it may be slightly less than degrees of the circle because the pivot may be slightly below the bottom 4 of the holder, and it is unnecessary to have the edges I3 of the cover extend below the bottom 4. If the boss 7 were made to extend above the bottom 4 instead of below it, the cover 9 might be a full 180 degrees. In any event, the pivot 8 is the center of the circle defining the top of the case 5 and the periphery of the cover 9.

The cover 9 is provided with a handle or knob to by means of which the cover 9 may be readily rotated to open or close it. This may be of any shape, but I have shown one embodiment as a simple rectangular knob. This may be fastened to the cover by cement, or rivets or molded in-- tegrally therewith.

Securely fastened to the inside of the cover 9, or molded integrally therewith, is a stop II which prevents rotation of the cover farther than is necessary to remove the brushes from one side of the holder. This stop acts by coming in contact with the bottom 4. It can readily be seen by referring to the drawing that if the cover were rotated farther than this, it would interfere with the withdrawal of the brushes by cover ing their handles.

The cover 9 may be made perfectly flat, but I have found that it is preferable to put a slight curve at the periphery, providing a low rim or flange which adds stiffness to the cover, and it may be fitted in a groove l4 of the semicircular wall 5 of the case. As a further means of holding the cover securely against the case so that it will not gap open, the boss I may be slightly tapered, as shown in Figure 3, so that the lower edge l5 forms a fulcrum about which the pivot 8 pulls the cover 9 in snugly against the case,

In using the present invention, the cover is rotated so that the notches B on one side are fully exposed, as shown in Figure l, and toothbrushes are inserted in the notches. The cover is then rotated until the case is fully closed, thus protecting the brushes, as shown in Figure 2. Brushes may be inserted in the other side by rotating the cover in the other direction. The notches g are, or course, not fully closed by the handles of the brushes and thus provide sufficient air circulation to permit the bristles to dry thoroughly after each use While I have fully described a preferred embodiment of my invention and several modifications, it is, of course, understood that other modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of this invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. A brush holder comprising a case and a cover; said case having a semicircular fiat back, a'semi-cylindrical member forming the top and sides, a flat bottom provided with brush-handle receiving notches, and a pivot located at the center of curvature of the member forming the top and sides; said cover being semi-circular, of substantially the same size as the back of the case, and provided with means, located at the center of curvature of its periphery, to engage the pivot of the case, and a stop located near the center of the curved periphery of said cover so that said cover is rotatable to expose either half of the holder.

2. The brush holder of claim 1, wherein the cover is provided with a stiffening flange around its curved edge and the curved member forming the top and sides of the case is provided with a groove to receive said flange.

3. The brush holder of claim 1, wherein the case is provided with a boss for holding the pivot, the lower edge of said boss extending farther from the back than the remainder of the boss so that said lower edge acts as a fulcrum about which the pivot pulls the cover snugly against the case.

4. A toothbrush holder comprising a case having a flat back, a flat bottom notched for receiving at least one toothbrush handle, a semicylindrical member forming top and sides, and a front cover of semicircular shape pivoted at its center of curvature so that by rotating it about the pivot it may be opened to expose substantially either half of the case together with the space below said exposed half of the case.

PAUL J. FILLMZAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the. file of this patent:

UNITED S ATES ATENTS Number Name Date 1,954,085 McMillan Apr. 10, 1934 1,995,972 Ehrlich Mar. 26, 1935 

